In February 2024 Beyoncé appeared in a commercial during the Super Bowl telecast to announce that she was releasing new music. Immediately after the game, she dropped two singles, “Texas Hold ’Em” and “16 Carriages,” on the music streaming service Tidal. Both songs featured a country music sound, leading her fans to guess that her new album, which she teased right after the Super Bowl on her Instagram page, would be a country album. The following month she revealed the album’s name, Cowboy Carter, confirming her fans’ guess. “Texas Hold ’Em” went to number one on the Billboard country chart, marking the first time in history that a Black woman had topped that chart. It was not Beyoncé’s first foray into country music; in 2016 she performed her song “Daddy Lessons” with the Dixie Chicks (now known as the Chicks) at the Country Music Awards. In another Instagram post, she revealed that the backlash she received after that performance spurred her to “dive into the history of Country music” as a future project. She also asserted, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé album.’ ”
The album’s release in late March prompted a long-overdue conversation about the African American roots of country music. Among the country guest artists featured on the album are singers Miley Cyrus and Linda Martell, musician Rhiannon Giddens, and singer-songwriters Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. Notably, Parton’s classic song “Jolene” is reimagined with new lyrics by Beyoncé, and country singer Tanner Adell is among several vocalists who join in on a cover of the Beatles’ “Blackbird.” In 2025 Cowboy Carter won the Grammys for best country album and album of the year.
